Acute effects of static and dynamic stretching on jump performance after 15 min of reconditioning shooting phase in basketball players

1 School of Human Movement Science, University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’, Rome, Italy;2 Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’, Rome, Italy;3 School of PhD in ‘‘Advanced Sciences and Technologies in Rehabilitation Medicine and Sports’’, University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’, Rome, Italy;4 San Raffaele On-Line University, Rome, Italy;5 I.R.C.C.S. San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy

AIM: to assess the effects of Static (SS) and Dynamic Stretching (DS) on vertical jump performance executed before, immediately after and at the end of the shooting phase (i.e., 15 min later), as to simulate the actual conditions preceding a match, in professional basketball players.METHODS: Ten elite basketball players (age: 29 ± 6.73 years, height: 194.67 ± 7.75 cm, weight: 91 ± 8.17 Kg and BMI 23.8 ± 7.91 Kg.m-2) participated to the study. SS and DS protocols were administered during the first training session of the week, 48 hours after the championship match. Stretching protocols consisted in ~7 minutes of general warm-up phase followed by ~8 minutes of SS and DS, performed with a cross-over design., and ~15 minutes of a specific warm-up shooting phase (SP) Vertical jump tests consisted in counter movement jump (CMJ) and CMJ with arm swings (CMJas) and were performed immediately after the end of each stretching phase (preS, postS, postSP).RESULTS: A significant decrease (P=0.05; η2partial=0.29) in jumping tests height occurred in CMJas, when performed after the SS (i.e, PostS). However, no significant differences in jumping performances, occurred after the general warm phase and the specific warm-up shooting phase, between the two stretching protocols.CONCLUSIONS: These results would indicate that, overall, stretching routines either dynamic or static, performed before a basketball match are transient and affect only marginally leg muscles performance. Stretching routines, particularly the dynamic ones, may be useful to maintain muscle performance before a competition, provided that this latter begins shortly after.